After Reading My Boyfriend’s Mind, I Dumped Him for Good Chapter 05
But I never expected Atticus to actually skip the basketball game.
The moment the final bell rang, I saw him waiting outside my classroom.
His head was lowered, and he stood there quietly.
I had no idea how long he’d been waiting.
The walk to the theater was painfully silent.
Atticus’s thoughts came through even more now.
[So annoying. So annoying. So freaking annoying.]
At that point, I was getting annoyed by him, too.
Then we ran into one of his friends at Oakridge Cinemas.
Julian grinned, leaning over to check out our tickets.
“A romance? Seriously, Atticus? Why don’t you take Cecilia to a horror flick or something?”
Atticus frowned and pushed him away. “What are you doing here?”
Julian waggled his eyebrows.
“You bailed on basketball, and I was bored. I asked a girl to come watch a movie with me.”
His eyes drifted to the romance movie poster.
Then a teasing smile spread across his face.
“Man, I should’ve grabbed tickets for this one. It’s got kissing scenes.”
He turned back to Atticus.
“Oh yeah, I keep seeing Cecilia planting kisses on you. So what’s it like?”
A wave of discomfort washed over me, and I frowned.
Atticus’s voice turned cold. “Nothing.”
He shot Julian a look. “None of your business.”
Compared to Julian’s question, that one word hit me way harder. Nothing.
A chill ran through me.
Then I heard something even worse.
[Disgusting.]
My heart lurched.
Disgusting—was that aimed at me or Julian?
I looked at Julian. They had been friends since childhood.
The answer seemed obvious. He meant me.
Was kissing me disgusting?
I stared at the movie ticket in my hand and forced a smile.
I still remembered our first kiss—right here in a movie theater.
It was dark.
I leaned in to whisper something about the plot, and when I turned my head, I caught Atticus staring at my lips, his eyes bright and intent.
Before I could think better of it, I kissed him.
Unlike his cold and distant personality, his lips had been surprisingly soft.
His warm breath had nearly melted me.
That night, it was just our lips touching.
Yet neither of us moved away for five or six whole minutes.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
When the movie ended and the lights came back on, I finally noticed that his face was even redder than mine.
He looked completely overwhelmed.
I’d laughed so hard that I couldn’t stand up straight and ended up collapsing into his arms until everyone else had left the theater.
After that, movie dates became my go-to excuse to get handsy.
By then, Atticus had gotten pretty good at it—thanks to my training.
Whenever my hand wandered, he’d lift the hem of his shirt on reflex so I could feel his abs.
But apparently all those racing heartbeats and breathless moments had only made him feel disgusted.
[Disgusting. So filthy.]
The thought echoed through my mind again, confirming my worst fears.
It became the quietest movie date we’d ever had.
Atticus beside me kept looking at me. His gaze felt hot, confused, and impossible to ignore.
When I finally turned toward him, his eyes lit up. I held out the popcorn. The light in his eyes died.
The movie ended. We walked out in silence.
“You should head home.” I looked at him.
Ever since we’d left the theater, he’d kept his head down, lost in thought.
“I made plans with someone. I’ll go back later.”
“Who?” He looked directly at me. His breathing seemed slightly heavier.
“Jake Mitchell. You don’t know him.” I pointed toward someone in the distance.
“I didn’t think you were coming to the movie, so I told him I’d go book shopping.”
My wrist was suddenly caught again.
Atticus’s voice sounded rough. “What books? I’ll go with you.”
They were study guides and reference books that could help improve my grades.
A genius like Atticus had never needed books like that.
To him, I was just stupid. Just like when he’d handed me those notes.
Afraid of hearing another cutting thought, I shook off his hand.
“No thanks. You should go home.”
Atticus fell silent.
We stared at each other.
Then a bright female voice sounded from behind us. “Atticus? You’re here too?”
I turned around.
A beautiful girl was looking at us with obvious surprise.
She seemed very familiar with him. The people she mentioned were all names I didn’t recognize.
Atticus barely reacted. Just a nod and a quick goodbye.
I didn’t know who she was.
Before all this, I would’ve definitely pinched his waist and demanded to know who she was.
But after hearing annoying as hell again, I didn’t ask anything. Neither of us spoke.
As we neared Harborview Books, where Jake was waiting, Atticus suddenly spoke up, “Aren’t you going to ask about that girl?”
I blinked. Then, going along with it, I asked, “Who was she?”
But somehow, that only seemed to irritate him more.
His breathing turned ragged, and there was a sharp edge in his expression.
“She’s like Julian. We grew up together.”
I nodded. A flicker of bitterness passed through me.
But then I remembered that Atticus didn’t even like me. What right did I have to be jealous?
“A childhood friend. That’s nice.”
As soon as I said it, the awkwardness got even worse.
I could almost hear someone’s fist clenching.
Then came Atticus’s thoughts.
[So annoying. How is she this stupid? So useless.]
My eyes burned. I called his name. “Atticus.”
He frowned and looked at me.
But all I could think about was that word. Disgusting.
If he just thought I was annoying, or stupid, or irritating—maybe I could’ve been pathetic enough to keep liking him for his face.
But if every hug, every kiss, every time I clung to him—if all of it made him feel disgusted…
Then I didn’t think I could ever kiss him again.
So I looked him straight in the eye and said it, slowly, word by word.
“Let’s break up.”
